Transcend TS-AKXA Motherboard Evaluation

Overview

Transcend is a very well known memory module manufacturer in Taiwan, founded in 1988, with products under their own name as well as doing contract work for a number of other 3rd party manufacturers. Transcend decided to enter into the motherboard marketplace a few years ago, but have not yet become extremely well known.

During late in May, I was given the opportunity to evaluate the TS-AKXA motherboard, a Slot A motherboard based upon the VIA KX133 chipset. Though it was known at the time that there were issues with regard to the Thunderbird, I decided to go through with the evaluation for two reasons. First was the knowledge that AMD was still planning to manufacture some Slot A Athlons with Aluminum interconnects in Fab 25 (copper based Athlons are the ones incompatible with the KX133, from all reports), but the second reason was simply to evaluate a Transcend motherboard of any kind.

In the weeks since the initial reports of Tbird/KX133 incompatibilities, AMD has indicated that they will continue to manufacture Slot A for the time being to help manufacturers use up their inventory of KX133 chipsets, which is good news for both manufacturers and consumers. Though specific speed grades have not been discussed, it is likely that they will be available in speeds up to at least 1GHz, so the upgrade path is still reasonably good for those that start with 700MHz systems.

My own experience with this motherboard is actually quite good, and it appears that Transcend actually does a good job of adhering to their mission of producing products only when they are sure they can be the best. After performing my own evaluation, I decided to read up on some of the other reports of Transcend motherboards (I didn’t want to have others influence my opinion before I started testing). I found that the general consensus is the same as the conclusion I have come to: Transcend makes quality motherboards, and are definitely worth a serious look.